59 research outputs found
The QCD phase diagram at nonzero quark density
We determine the phase diagram of QCD on the \mu-T plane for small to
moderate chemical potentials. Two transition lines are defined with two
quantities, the chiral condensate and the strange quark number susceptibility.
The calculations are carried out on N_t =6,8 and 10 lattices generated with a
Symanzik improved gauge and stout-link improved 2+1 flavor staggered fermion
action using physical quark masses. After carrying out the continuum
extrapolation we find that both quantities result in a similar curvature of the
transition line. Furthermore, our results indicate that in leading order the
width of the transition region remains essentially the same as the chemical
potential is increased.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
Electromagnetic corrections to light hadron masses
At the precision reached in current lattice QCD calculations, electromagnetic
effects are becoming numerically relevant. We will present preliminary results
for electromagnetic corrections to light hadron masses, based on simulations in
which a degree of freedom is superimposed on QCD
configurations from the BMW collaboration.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, The XXVIII International Symposium on Lattice
Field Theory, June 14-19,2010, Villasimius, Sardinia Ital
Fumonisin B1 exposure increases Hsp70 expression in the lung and kidney of rats without inducing significant oxidative stress
The objective of this experiment was to determine whether fumonisin B1 (FB1) added to the diet of rats in a dose of 50 mg/kg changes the production of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) in the lungs and kidney of rats. We also studied the effect of this mycotoxin on the antioxidant system of the body. Mature (8 weeks old) male Wistar Crl:WI BR rats (n = 6/group) were fed the toxin-containing diet for 5 days. FB1 resulted in a 7% body weight reduction without significantly changing the feed intake. Western blot analysis of the lungs and kidney demonstrated a substantial (1.4-fold and 1.8-fold, respectively) increase in Hsp70 expression. Alterations could not be detected in the clinical chemical parameters (total protein, albumin, total cholesterol, glucose, creatinine and urea concentrations, and aspartate aminotransferase activity). There was no statistically significant change in malondialdehyde concentrations and the measured antioxidant parameters (the amount of reduced glutathione, GSH and glutathione peroxidase activity, GPx) in the blood plasma, lung and kidney tissue. Thus, it can be concluded that FB1 did not induce oxidative stress in the lungs and kidney, but increased Hsp70 production
Quasiparticle Description of the QCD Plasma, Comparison with Lattice Results at Finite T and Mu
We compare our 2+1 flavor, staggered QCD lattice results with a quasiparticle
picture. We determine the pressure, the energy density, the baryon density, the
speed of sound and the thermal masses as a function of T and . For the
available thermodynamic quantities the difference is a few percent between the
results of the two approaches. We also give the phase diagram on the --T
plane and estimate the critical chemical potential at vanishing temperature.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure
The order of the quantum chromodynamics transition predicted by the standard model of particle physics
We determine the nature of the QCD transition using lattice calculations for
physical quark masses. Susceptibilities are extrapolated to vanishing lattice
spacing for three physical volumes, the smallest and largest of which differ by
a factor of five. This ensures that a true transition should result in a
dramatic increase of the susceptibilities.No such behaviour is observed: our
finite-size scaling analysis shows that the finite-temperature QCD transition
in the hot early Universe was not a real phase transition, but an analytic
crossover (involving a rapid change, as opposed to a jump, as the temperature
varied). As such, it will be difficult to find experimental evidence of this
transition from astronomical observations.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Progress in finite temperature lattice QCD
I review recent progress in finite temperature lattice calculations,
including the determination of the transition temperature, equation of state,
screening of static quarks and meson spectral functions.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, uses iopart.cls, invited talk presented at
Strangeness in Quark Matter 2007 (SQM 2007), Levoca, Slovakia, June 24-29,
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Characterization of technical skill progress in a standardized rabbit model for training in laparoscopic duodenal atresia repair
Background: Laboratory skills training is an essential step before conducting minimally invasive surgery in clinical practice. Our main aim was to develop an animal model for training in clinically highly challenging laparoscopic duodenal atresia repair that could be useful in establishing a minimum number of repetitions to indicate safe performance of similar interventions on humans.
Materials and methods: A rabbit model of laparoscopic duodenum atresia surgery involving a diamond-shaped duodeno-duodenostomy was designed. This approach was tested in two groups of surgeons: in a beginner group without any previous clinical laparoscopic experience (but having undergone previous standardized dry-lab training, n = 8) and in an advanced group comprising pediatric surgery fellows with previous clinical experience of laparoscopy (n = 7). Each participant performed eight interventions. Surgical time, expert assessment using the Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills (GOALS) score, anastomosis quality (leakage) and results from participant feedback questionnaires were analyzed.
Results: Participants in both groups successfully completed all eight surgeries. The surgical time gradually improved in both groups, but it was typically shorter in the advanced group than in the beginner group. The leakage rate was significantly lower in the advanced group in the first two interventions, and it reached its optimal level after five operations in both groups. The GOALS and participant feedback scores showed gradual increases, evident even after the fifth surgery.
Conclusions: Our data confirm the feasibility of this advanced pediatric laparoscopic model. Surgical time, anastomosis quality, GOALS score and self-assessment parameters adequately quantify technical improvement among the participants. Anastomosis quality reaches its optimal value after the fifth operation even in novice, but uniformly trained surgeons. A minimum number of wet-lab operations can be determined before surgery can be safely conducted in a clinical setting, where the development of further non-technical skills is also required.Open access funding provided by University of Szeged. This study has been funded by FEDER funds through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Program (COMPETE) and by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) within the scope of project No. POCI-01–0145-FEDER-007038, as well as by project No. NORTE-01–0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020) under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)
Fluctuations of conserved charges at finite temperature from lattice QCD
We present the full results of the Wuppertal-Budapest lattice QCD
collaboration on flavor diagonal and non-diagonal quark number susceptibilities
with 2+1 staggered quark flavors, in a temperature range between 125 and 400
MeV. The light and strange quark masses are set to their physical values.
Lattices with Nt=6, 8, 10, 12, 16 are used. We perform a continuum
extrapolation of all observables under study. A Symanzik improved gauge and a
stout-link improved staggered fermion action is utilized. All results are
compared to the Hadron Resonance Gas model predictions: good agreement is found
in the temperature region below the transition.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures in Jhep styl
Is there still any Tc mystery in lattice QCD? Results with physical masses in the continuum limit III
The present paper concludes our investigations on the QCD cross-over
transition temperatures with 2+1 staggered flavours and one-link stout
improvement. We extend our previous two studies [Phys. Lett. B643 (2006) 46,
JHEP 0906:088 (2009)] by choosing even finer lattices (=16) and we work
again with physical quark masses. The new results on this broad cross-over are
in complete agreement with our earlier ones. We compare our findings with the
published results of the hotQCD collaboration. All these results are confronted
with the predictions of the Hadron Resonance Gas model and Chiral Perturbation
Theory for temperatures below the transition region. Our results can be
reproduced by using the physical spectrum in these analytic calculations. The
findings of the hotQCD collaboration can be recovered by using a distorted
spectrum which takes into account lattice discretization artifacts and heavier
than physical quark masses. This analysis provides a simple explanation for the
observed discrepancy in the transition temperatures between our and the hotQCD
collaborations.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures and 3 table
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